TOP 10 TV SHOWS FOR 2015
Fargo — Even better than the brilliant 1st season; with some of the finest acting anywhere.Justified — Fabulous farewell to Harlan County’s finest U.S. Marshal, and, a fitting final tribute to the great Elmore as well.
Mr. Robot — Kept you guessing and thrilled every week as it sailed from a 99% thriller to a whoisit mystery.
The Leftovers –Sometimes made you crazy(as only the co-creator of Lost can), but mostly gut-wrenching and perceptive.
The Americans — Cold War spying has never been this entertaining, enlightening, and sexy.
Daredevil — Best comic book adaptation yet.
Silicon Valley — Mike Judge hilariously does to the nerd kingdom what he hilariously did to dumb teens and good ‘ol boy Texans.
Homeland — Exciting and more relevant than ever.
Better Call Saul — Fine comic prequel.
Penny Dreadful — Victorian horror updated in a good way; not in an insipid way like the latest overblown Hollywood bombastic attempt, “Victor Frankenstein.”
MOST DISAPPOINTING TV SHOW OF 2015
Man in the High Castle — Fantastic production values, but weak acting and trite plot devices doomed what should have been a compelling what-if fantasy. Yet another recent bad Philip K. Dick adaptation.
‘WE NEED A BIGGER BOAT’ TV AWARD OF 2015
Walking Dead 1st Half/Current Season — Jumped the Shark in more episodes this season that any TV show in history. The finale was especially mind-boggling.
TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2015
Mad Max Fury Road — Not only the best action movie since Road Warrior, but the most intelligent movie of the year.
Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson’s most assured(and funniest) homage to Robert Altman and the films of the 1970’s…the greatest decade in cinema history.
Love & Mercy — Brilliant portrait of Beach Boys’ founder Brian Wilson, highlighting his musical genius and his mental instability with equal aplomb.
The Martian — Ridley Scott’s SF comedy/thriller about nerds works for everybody.
Spotlight — Insightful newspaper thriller about Boston Globe’s uncovering of Catholic Church’s cover up of pedophile priests.
99 Homes — A riveting movie about greedy, despicable home repo-men? Yes!
All Things Must Pass — Colin Hanks nails the giddy rise and sad fall of Tower Records.
Ex Machina — A.I. hasn’t been this sexy-dangerous since 1927, when Fritz Land & Thea von Harbou created the first fembot in Metropolis.
Listen To Me Marlon — Compelling bio of screen legend Brando as told via his own recordings made over the decades.
Legend — Tom(Mad Max) Hardy gives two distinct, excellent performances as the notorious identical twin British gangsters, the Krays, who reigned terror over East London in the 1960’s.
MOST OVERRATED MOVIE OF 2015
It Follows — Yes, it’s well made, but it’s still just a you-screw-you-die teen horror yarn.
WORST MOVIE WITH THE MOST GOOD REVIEWS OF 2015
Diary of a Teenage Girl — Somehow kiddie porn was hailed as “a provocative account of one girl’s sexual and artistic awakening.” Uhhhhhh??
SPECIAL PLACE IN BAD CINEMA HELL RESERVED FOR:
James Franco, for his continual assault on Southern writers as an actor/director.
The Sound and the Fury(2015, William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying(2014, Faulkner again)
Child of God(2013, Knoxville’s own Cormac McCarthy)
Tenn(2016, bio of Tennessee Williams)
Long Home(2017, Hohenwold, Tennessee’s own, William Gay)
by Jackson Stiles
